Railway signal



' 1.557.698 Oct. 20,1925- S'RHULL V RAILWAY SIGNAL filgd Feb. 9, 1923 4 if 4% 55 I l I g;- 4/ 1| l NV EN TOR.

Patented oct. 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES SAMUEL r. HULL, on NEW inoaK, N. Y.

I RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Application filed February 9, 1923. Serial Ito. 618,157.

T0 allwltom tmay concern.

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. HULL, a citizen of the-United States, and resident of New York, in the county of'New York and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Railway Signals, of which the'followingis a specification. r V r This invention relates to railway signals and includes certain novel features in construction and arrangement of parts whereby the indications of the signal are changed by moving a colored screen between a source of li ht; and a lens The lensv is adjustablewlth relation to its support in two planes at right angles to each other. The signal has a vertical support pivotally secured to a base so that it may swing through an arc to direct the indication from the signal. This signal is particularly adapted 'fo'r use on curves and grades and is illustrated in connection with a track switch, giving a plurality of indications of the position of the switch points. The objects of the invention are more particularly described in 1 the following specification and shown in the Figs. 8 and 9,

accompanying drawings, in which, Fig. 1, is an elevation of the signal complete, Fig. 2, is an elevation at right angles to.Fig.- 1, Fig. 3 is a plan view .ofthe target usedin Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an alternative construction to, Fig. 3, showing theaise of a semaphore. Fig." 5-, is a sectional elevation of the interior of the signal lamp, Fig. 6 is a plan view of-Fig. 5. Fig. 6 is another sectional view. Fig. 7 is a detail showing the construction of the lamp support and show the application of the signal on a railway track. 1

The usual practice at hand-operated railway switches is to provide a switch stand which is spiked to the ends of long ties and has suitable connections for operating'the switch rails by a hand lever. This stand has a vertical shaft which is rotated through 90 degrees when the switch rails change position. On this shaft a target is provided having blades of diiferent colors at right angles to each other and the shaft ends in a squared taper. A lamp havinglenses 180 degrees apart is supported atthe end of this shaft by a squared socket fitting over the taper. 1

- In thedrawings,

In the'present invention a signal is provi-ded to indicate the position of the switch-I rails qulte lndependently of the mechanism" This signal is which operates the. switch. supported-on a stand or baseof concrete at the side of the track" and is operated me:-

chanically-by connection to the point. of the switch rail.- i

Thelight signal or lamp in the present lnventio'n is rlgidly secured to its support and cannot be placed to give a wrong indi cation as might occur with a lamp placed on asquare socket. The lamp being rigid, its focalplane can be adjustedin a particular direction and maintainedin-this direction with the result that the indication is increased in range andmade more efi'ective. For the purpose of adjusting the focal plane, the position of the lenses are adjustable with vertical to correspond A with: conditions ion grades.

foundation supporting the signal mast 12 to which" the light signal or lamp 13 isrigidly secured. This mast alsosupports the target having blades 14: and 15, Fig. 3 at "right angles toeach other for daylight indication and more particularly described hereafter.

The foundation 11 is provided with the usual foundation bolts 22 engaging the base relation to the lamp itself and the support I of the lamp 15 adapted to be tilted from the 11 re presents a concrete plate asshown in Figs. land 2. This base plate it will be noted .has' a sloping ridge developed to a point 23 under the centre,

Fig. 2, so that the platemay turn about this pomt by adjusting the nuts on the foundation bolts 22 on either side. This-will discorrespondingly tilt the mast 12 supported is tiltable inthe; plane of the lenses 41 and place the plate 21 from the horizontal and i 42 and the indication therefrom is directed I mast. The up and down rod 27 connects to the crank and operates the revolving target. and changes ,the light indication."

The target issecured to a sleeve 32 resting is clamped to the base of the v on a collar 31 clamped to the mast 12. A

rod 29, pivotally secured to a blade of the target at 30,0onnects with an arm 28 moving integral with crank25v andso adjusted used on switches for daylight indications,

a semaphore type of indication can -:readily be substituted for the target as indicated in Fig. 4:. lnthis case'the semaphore, 1s

1 pivoted at-Satoth-e mast lQand by the. conby the socketnection to'th'eup and down 'rod-QT-the semaphore-is turned onitspivotvto givethe desired indication;

The lainp'consists of ahousingl3'secured 83: to' the mast =12. This housing is provided with lenses ll and i452 placed opposite as shown. The lens ring is secured to'a plate '4c2 which' is clamped by screws 43 in the slotted -,o.pening zshown to :plate 4: This plate, in turn,: is clamped by screwsl5 in :a slotted opening to .the housing 1'3. Fronr this construction, itwill be noted that the 'positi'on'of the -lens may be adjusted vertically and horizontally with relation ;.to the casing 13. jEachllensis adjustable 1ndependently: of "thecotlrer.

The source. of light, was illustrated in Fig. .5, :lS an electric bulb 51, supported by a lamp bracket '52 :in the vertical azaxis orfxthe Llamp housing and inline with the lenses. vInterposed between the source-of lightsandwthe lenses is; theicolore'd shade 53-5l whichis secured-to the up and down.rod 27 and is raised :and lowered-as thisrod iszitoperatediby the switch rails. The top-part of this shad-e iis coloredred and the lower part is colored-green, iyel-lowlor otherwiseaas desire-d. Nhen :the shade .is low- :ered the red section 53 alignsaWith-the lenses I giving va red light indicationg w'hen the 'shadefis raised, the section :54 aligns with the; lenses giving: a green light or other indication as arranged. It .will be notedthat the indication from both lenses is changed simultaneously. "The red shade is preferably placed at the'top so. that should-a disconnection of the upanddown rod occur,

the signal will, by gravity, show w danger.

The colored shade: as shown inqthe drawings is cylindrical :but it :isnapparent this shade .may .be made 'i-n-curved FSGCtlOllS and per form the functions required by Ytheinven- =tion.

As shown in'Figx 6*the cylindrical shade may be cut away to 'make space for the -'lamp bracket 52. This bracket is secured to the housing 13 as-shown in Fig. 7 in which 71 shows an oilfount or lamp base which must be adjustable vertically and horizontally to bring the light into the focus of the lenses. The bracket 52 has a vertical end secured to the housing by the screws 72 placed in the same vertical plane. This end is spaced from the housing by the screws 73 on the, same horizontal plane. The bracket will pivot horizontally on the screws 72 and vertically on the screws 73. It is apparent that these screws may be adjusted 'totilt-the-end-ofthe lamp bracket-with a micrometer adjustment.

lVhen the source of light is an oil lamp, theconstruction shown in Fig. 6" may be used. The lamp is placed in the housing as shown witha hood 57 to project beyond the edge of the housing. A ventilating cone 58 and a hood 59 is provided on top. From thehood 57;depends the frame 56 which supports the oil lamp. This part is removed asa whole forcleaning and trimming. With. this type of signal. having stationary lenses when the lamp is removed and placed on the track it cannot give a color signal.

One application of this invention :is shown in Fig.8 where 6listhe stock rail and 62 is the switch rail. The signalmakes direct mechanical connection to the point of the switch railthroug-h 'rod63, crank F64: and operating rod26, the operating rod 26, however, may be connected-directly to the switch rail or to theswitch operatingmechanisin.

The'application of this signal .on a curve is illustrated in @Fig. 9 in which 66 is the signal and-is the track. The lens of the signal pointing to the left is adjusted to throw a beam oilight'panallel to thetrack as indicated by a an d'the lenszpointing'to theright maybe adjusted to throw a beam of light in the line b. The cylindrical shade permits these adjustments without allecting lt-heindication. This shade may be constructed from glass, mica .or other .tr ansparent material. The plateseQfl and 4-4 maybe spherically ZIEOIIDGCl so that. in adjustingthe ,lensesthey will not be'moved out-of the :focus of the light.

WVhenapplied 'on *a grade it is apparent that-the mast maybe tilted so that the lenses are inclined to the horizontal correspondingrto the grade. Thismakes the'indication eq-ually'eilective iniboth, directions.

This signalhas been-shown and described in its application to indicate the position of :track switches, .but .the principles herein disclosed may be used in the general applicationofilight signals.

Having tthus described my invention, I

of a lamp housing, a lens, a source of light and a cylindrical colored shade in two horizontal sections, said shade interposed between said light and said lens, the upper section of said shade being colored red and means for imparting a vertical motion to said shade.

3. In a railway signal, the combination of a lamp housing, a lens, a source of light and a cylindrical colored shade, said shade interposed between said light and said lens, said lens adjustable about the axis of said cylinder, said shade having sections of different colors and means for imparting a vertical motion to saidshade.

4. In a railway signal lamp, the combination of a lamp housing, a pair of lenses, a

source of light and a colored shade, said.

as a centre,-said shade 'interposed between said light and said'lenses and means for imparting a vertical motion to said shade.

5. In a railway signal lamp, in combination,

a lamp housing, a lens adjustably secured to said housing, a source of light and a movable colored member moving in the plane of said lens for changing the indication from-said signal.

6. In a railway signal lamp, in combination, a lamp housing, a plurality of lenses adjustably secured to said housing, a source of light and a colored member interposed between said light and said lenses.

Signed at New York, in .thecounty of New York and State of New York, this fifth day of February, A. D. 1923.

SAMUEL P. HULL. 

